Paper Fires Artist for Putting Love Note in Nixon Cartoon

PASSAIC, N.J. — A newspaper cartoonist has been fired because he scribbled a love note on Richard M. Nixon's pants in a drawing published on the front page.

Austin Drukker, publisher of the Herald-News of Passaic, fired cartoonist Frank Gillooly, saying that the prank could damage the paper's reputation.

Gillooly, 50, scribbled "I love Lori" on Nixon's left leg in a cartoon published in Wednesday's editions. It was a note to his fiance, Lori Melignano, 26.

"I think it was immature, it affects the credibility of our newspaper, its seriousness, and for that reason we fired him," Drukker said. "This is not a toy. It is a newspaper. I think the fact that he was serious or not serious has no bearing."